1. Technical Field
This invention described herein relates generally to populating selection fields on a computer or a communications terminal. More particularly, the invention relates to entering at least one term from a context-sensitive list of selection terms without keyboard entry and searching based on the term.
2. Related Art
Since 1990, the telecommunications community has witnessed an explosive growth in the Internet. One of the features of the Internet which has assisted its growth is the number and completeness of Internet search engines. These engines scan most Internet sites for new information, and catalog this information into an easily searchable form through the engine""s home page. Popular Internet search sites include, for example, Yahoo!(trademark) (at http://www.yahoo.com), Lycos(trademark) (at http://www.lycos.com), and Alta Vista(trademark) (at http://www.altavista.com). These sites are accessible to the standard user through pointing the user""s Internet Browser to the uniform resource locator (URL) (given above in parenthesis) of these sites. Examples of popular Internet Browsers include Netscape Communication Corporation""s Navigator 3.0(trademark) and Microsoft Corporation""s Internet Explorer 3.0(trademark).
When at a search site, a user enters information into a selection field. After submitting the entered information, the user receives a list of pages (or URLs) which pertain to the submitted information. Some search sites provide a general category listing (for example, xe2x80x9cComputersxe2x80x9d) so a user can initially limit a search area to only that search area.
A drawback to the present functionality of the Internet is the requirement that the user have access to a keyboard. For example, Web TV(trademark), while allowing a person""s television to be used as an Internet exploration station requires the use of a bulky keyboard.
Minimal accommodation is made for users who do not have access to a keyboard. The minimal accommodation as currently implemented in web pages as well as in some Internet Browsers is through a fixed xe2x80x9cpick listxe2x80x9d.
A pick list is a drop-down or pop-up menu listing of options available. In HTML version 3.0, a pick list option is represented by the following:
 less than p align=xe2x80x9ccenterxe2x80x9d greater than Selection: less than /p greater than 
 less than p align=xe2x80x9ccenterxe2x80x9d greater than  less than select name=xe2x80x9cnamexe2x80x9d size=xe2x80x9c1xe2x80x9d greater than 
 less than option greater than Term A  less than /option greater than 
 less than option greater than Term B  less than /option greater than 
 less than option greater than Term C  less than /option greater than 
 less than option greater than Term D  less than /option greater than 
 less than /select greater than  less than /p greater than 
The above listing of HTML code, when read into an Internet Browser, produces a pick list with a drop-down menu of terms A, B, C, and D. A drawback of pick lists as generated by a remote server (as containing the HTML code which forms a Web page) is that the terms selectable from the pick list are fixed. Accordingly, in situations where one desires to search a variety of terms, even if a pick list is provided by the web site, the pick list is fixed to what the programmer of the web site wants the user to see, not necessarily what the user wants to see.
Further, one difficulty experienced in searching on the Internet is the requirement that the searching user have a degree of familiarity with the terms (and spelling of the terms) before a site or document can be found.
Accordingly, a need exists to provide a keyboardless entry system for users who do not have ready access to a keyboard as well as a dynamic list of terms for easier searching.
The present invention overcomes the aforementioned problems as it provides user-specific content in a keyboardless environment. The present invention includes a pop-up, context sensitive menu of terms. By xe2x80x9cpop-upxe2x80x9d is meant a display menu in a screen or window of a screen. By xe2x80x9ccontext sensitivexe2x80x9d is meant the subject matter displayed to the user is selected on the basis of a topic in which a user is currently interested. These terms are selectable and enterable, for example, into selection fields on Internet search sites. Also, these terms are used to navigate through broadcast programming. Further, these terms are used to select on-demand services in an hybrid or coax network.
Embodiments of the present invention contemplate two distinct modules for creating and using the context sensitive pick lists.
The first module relates to the use of pick lists. Through user selection of a selection field, a pop-up menu appears listing a variety of selection terms. As contemplated by embodiments of the present invention, the displayed context sensitive terms relate to the previous selection terms used, the identity of the user (as a preferred selection list), and/or the terms present on the page currently displayed on a user""s display device, After a user selects a term for population into a selection field, the first module outputs a variety of keyboard or software calls so as to make the web browsing software believe that it is receiving a typed version of the selected term.
The second module relates to the generation of the context sensitive pick list as including various associations between the terms contained in the pick list. Embodiments of the present invention contemplate at least three association processes which associate received terms for context sensitive retrieval. First, the received terms are associated with the selection terms used to find the current document. Second, the received terms are associated with the identity of a user who is using the web browser. Third, the received terms are associated with other terms present on the page currently displayed on a user""s display device. Through the various ways of associating terms with other terms during the learning process, the embodiments of the present invention provide a user with an easy and intelligent field population scheme.